Sound And Vision: Álex de la Iglesia
In the article series Sound and Vision we take a look at music videos from notable directors. This week: Fran Perea's Carnaval, directed by Álex de la Iglesia.
Álex de la Iglesia's sole music video, for Fran Perea's Carnaval, seems fitting almost to the extent of self-parody. If any word would describe a lot of De la Iglesia's movies, it's carnivalesque. The Last Circus has clown characters, Witching and Bitching has a heist in weird costumes (there is a Jesus bank robber and a Spongebob bank robber) and pagan parties, and Veneciafrenia is a slasher based on bal masques in Venice. There is a sense of excess to the films of De la Iglesia, with a focus on the grotesques, caricatures and silliness. Costumes, circusses, caricatures, grotesqueries, they are par for the course in the horror comedies of De la Iglesia.
So directing a video set in a circussy environment, full of twisty hypnosis spirals, clown-like figures and funhouse-style masks seems all too fitting. There doesn't necessarily seem to be a lot going on there except for the crazed visuals, but there is a haunting feeling in some of the shots. Especially one of the last shots of the video made me think of why I appreciate De la Iglesia's films as much as I do. In that shot Fran Perea, while removing his clown mask, has a look in his eyes that is both sad and frightening. World-weary yet angry. And those eyes are hidden behind a visually distracting clown-like make-up that almost hides the fact that there is something more going on there.
The same goes for films like The Day of the Beast, Witching and Bitching, The Last Circus, Dance with the Devil (Perdita Durango) and Veneciafrenia. It would be too easy to call them empty headed but fun romps. There is more going on behind the facade. There is a world weariness and anger to a lot of them, like those eyes.
The Day of the Beast has a strong comment on the way in which homeless people were treated in current-day Spain by both violent gangs and city officials. Witching and Bitching largely comments on misogyny in society. And the way in which Christianity condones that and has for a long time, by usurping and rejecting paganistic practices that centered the divinity of women. The Last Circus is the history of the rivalry of two clowns, but also an historical allegory of fascism in Spain's past 100 years. Dance with the Devil tackles themes of immigration and abortion in America. And Veneciafrenia tries to comment upon the way in which tourists and locals can butt heads when it comes to their shared use of the city.
Like the idea of the carnival stems from partying in the face of fasting, a deliberate temporary distraction from a more religious and contemplative way of life, so the frantic frenzies of De la Iglesia's movies are a way to comment on religious and political problems. De la Iglesia's movies are deeply catholic, and deeply critical of it at the same time. Like carnival, it mocks what it belongs to. This music video is easily dismissed as over the top, like many of De la Iglesia's movies. But look deeper, behind the make-up, and gaze into those dark eyes... and you see a palpable emotion and conviction that lingers.
